East Martello Tower: Key West's Unfinished Civil War Fort

Key West built the East Martello Tower as a Civil War-era fort, but it never saw combat or carried weapons.

The city originally planned nine forts to defend the harbor in 1836. High costs led planners to scale back to Fort Zachary Taylor and two smaller batteries: the East and West Martello Towers along what is now South Roosevelt Boulevard. Construction on the Martello Towers began in the mid-1860s but stopped before either tower received armaments.

The Key West Art & Historical Society restored the East Tower and opened it as the Fort East Martello Museum in 1950, making it the first museum in the Florida Keys. The National Register of Historic Places added the fort in 1972.

The museum displays works by Cuban folk artist Mario Sanchez and houses Robert the Doll, a doll formerly owned by artist Robert Eugene Otto that some visitors claim is haunted.